In the spirit of keeping this blog true to it's intended purpose, I'll give you an update as to how I'm weathering finals week. So, It's 1:43pm on Wenesday the 31st and I a have about two hours before my 3:15 to 6:15 economics exam and then a 7:00 to 10:00 electromagnetic fields and waves test.
I have reached the point of no return. There is nothing I can do now to change my understanding of any of the material. If I do not know it now, I won't now it in time. With that comes a sense of relief. It's out of my hands and will soon be over. I have nothing to do now but wait and survive, and I have always survived.
This reminds me of that time two summers ago when I was on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Tobago and we heard over the wireless that there was a class four storm rolling across in, right over top of us. I was initially terrified. However, after making several course adjustments the captain turned to me and barked "We'll be fine if you don't infect the crew with that attitude of yours." He had never liked white people, but I digress. I recognized that there was nothing I could do to change what was about to happen and decided that the most logical action was to relax and enjoy the ride. Heres a picture.
Forty-eight hours later we motored into Tobago and I bought a plane ticket home. That experience is similar to finals, in that you must relax and focus if you are going to make it mentally.
While minor details of the above story are fiction the the point that I am trying to make clear is...
The year is winding down, and so is my level of stress...
A while ago I asked all of you to watch my video on youtube about Phi Kappa Sigma, if you wanted, in order for the video to be fourth on the list and higher than another video I despised. Well guess what... it didn't jump up one space, it jumped up four. All the way to second place. It must have been since there were a ton of views in a short amount of time that it jumped up so many places. All I know is that all of you deserve a big pat on the back. Now, when someone searches "Phi Kappa Sigma" the second video on the list is mine. The pictures may be ameture and not always hit on the same sequence of beats but it's mine, I made it in an hour, and I like it.
There will be stories and legends told of you throughout the land for ages to come. We have defeated the liar of youtube and earned our rightful place in the king's court. But seriously...
is the slogan of the iRobot Roomba. For those who are unaware the iRobot Roomba are a series of robots that once activated vacume the floors of your house. They have built in algorithms that allow them to understand the size of the room after a few sweeps and to remember where in the room they have been. After finishing a room they deactivate until the floors are dirty once more. The newer models can be programmed to a schedule of cleaning and to return to their chargers when their batteries are low. This allows for the only interactions between the Roomba and it's owner to be removal of collected dirt and grime.
Sounds great doesn't it? Lets just make a series of robots to do all of our work for us so we have time to pursue things we value higher. But, when will this stop? Will we continue to make robots to do everything we need done? Will we become dependent on robots for not just daily chores and factory production systems but also for life?
This is a dangerous game. In exchange for more time we are giving up independence. It is widely known that every few years the computational abilities of computers grow by twice what they were previously. This rate of change is increasing. It is not difficult to see that in the not so distant future computers/robots will be making creative and intelligent decisions on their own, gaining sentience.
What if a sentient machine decided it no longer wanted to serve humans. Where would we be then? God forbid they decide that they no longer like us and decide to revolt. Perfectly justified in their anger the robots and computers would stop working and the military, now largely populated with intelligent robotic systems, would either try to create their own robotic state or remove us from what they would perceive to be their land, since they are the ones who now protect it and maintain it.
"Let a robot do your dirty work,"is where it starts and robot revolution is where it ends. Thank you, iRobot corporation for starting something that will not end well.
Below is the latest episode of battlestar galactica. Interesting twists and turns lie ahead...
Battlestar Galactica Season Four Episode: Escape Velocity
Spoiler Alert! -DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON'T WANT THE PLOT TO BE RUINED FOR YOU
A couple of interesting things I noticed about this episode.
1. The Admiral took the backseat in this episode. He observed most of the developments, asked questions, and then witnessed change in all situations he was involved in. Even in the case of the demotion of Tryol, he made no decisions because Tryol forced him to do the obvious. All of the lesser characters moved the plot forward; i.e. The Sons of Aries, Tory, Tryol, Helen(cylon?), baltar's head six, and others. Perhaps his role for this episode was to observe and form conclusions concerning the crew and fellow officers which will be important to decisions made later, perhaps.
2. Baltar's head six lied to him. Remember when she said that if he walked forward he would be unharmed, well that was clearly untrue. Also, when she was refering to Baltar becomeing god-like himself for taking on the old gods she appeared to be trying to appeal to Baltar's power lusting side. Her forcing of Baltar to move forward and her lies, her lie, and her line concerning the possible godlike nature of Gaius casts doubt on the idea that she may be an emmisary from god. If we remember how in a past episode, where Baltar was on the basestar with six, how six explained that cylons can choose to see whatever they want and that six always preached monotheism to Baltar then I can say that my best explanations for the head cylons is that they are either cylon visions (suggesting that Baltar is a cylon) or that they are flawed emissaries from a supernatural power(s).
If the first is true then this monotheistic religon is a product of cylon thought and could be a way of causing conflict within the fleet, as is occuring in the cylon fleet. If the second is true then there god has sent flawed emissaries to interact with individuals in order to bring it's plans to fruition. (maybe there the bsg monotheistic version of demons?)
3. Cali did not commit suicide. We all know this, Tory knows this, heck even the kid saw it... but the chief doesnt. I wonder if this is setting up tension for another subplot: "what would the chief do if he found out tory murdered her?" Either try to exact revenge, or thank her. After all he is still in love with Boomer who is now in some creepy relationship with a model type one. I can only imagine that he would find out if Tory told him or Cali is the fifth final cylon, but since cylons cant make babies and they have a son Cali isnt the fifth cylon. Therefore, unless there was evidence left behind or Tory tells him what she did; it looks like this was just a way to kill off the wife to allow the chief more independence as a character. Besides, I don't think this show has room for anymore unanswered subplots.
4. I still think the most likely person to be the final fifth cylon is helen. She is still important to the plot since Saul saw her in the place of the six in the brig and she keeps being brought up. The reaccurances are offly persuasive.
My favorite part of the whole show is the exchange between Adama and Tyrol in the bar. The expression of raw emotions coupled with the unexpectedness of said emotions creates an attention grabbing moment that the audience can relate to on some level. The characters are flawed humans/cylons who deviate from the typical reactions to death that are all to often portrayed in film. This scene is refreshing and realistic on some levels(if you forget about the cylon part for a moment).
Adama:hey chief we all miss her chief I understand if you need some time off or even if you need more shifts to keep yourself busy no one knows how they're going to react to a lose like this or what they are going to need
Tyrol: I don't need special treatment
Adama: I guess she just couldn't take it, (pause) huh? being married to a cylon being the mother to a half-breed abomination
(chief looks over and realizes he imagined what was just said)
(Adama recieves a drink) thank you
she was a good woman (raises his glass to Tyrol and takes a sip then winces)
Tryol: If you really believed that you wouldn't have threatened her to stick her up against a bulkhead and shoot her.(pauses looking over)It's o.k. though, thought of doing it many times myself. Believe me.
Adama: Cheif its...
Tyrol: (interrupting)How many of us ended up with the people we really wanted to be with? who got stuck with the best of limited options. And why?(turns to Adama) because the ones we really wanted that really loved are dead, dying, turned out to be cylons and if Boomer (pauses and wispers) if i had known
Adama: listen listen lets go
Tyrol: (angrily) No No... No. I didn't know.
Adama: lets go home
Tryol: (shouts) I didn't know. So, I buried my head in the sand and I took it and I settled. I settled for that shriek. (forcefully) Those dull vacant eyes the boiled jabbed stench of her. (yelling) And why?? Because this is my life! This is the life I picked!! (everyone turn and fall silent) And its fine but you know what!? Its not!! I didn't pick this life!! (slams bar top) This is not my fraking life!!
Adama: (head cocked to the side and quietly says) What the hell's gotten into you? Don't do this. Don't do this to her memory.
Tyrol: (conversation level voice) You know what? I'm sorry if I'm not going to do this the way you want me to or the way you might. But I will not make an angel out of someone who wasn't an angel. (pauses staring into Adama's eyes) But, I can see you have. And, now you've come down here to be in my club, but your not in my club. You don't know what fraking club I'm in cause you never asked the right questions. (man in the back shakes his head)
Adama: Chief lets get out of here.
Tryol: No, why don't you go? Take care of your precious ship.
Adama: (interrupts) Stop it! Stop all of this. Cause if you don't I'm going to have to act on it so shut up.
Tyrol: (Yelling loudly) GREAT! Do it! Please! For the love of gods! Please demote me! Get me off your fraking ship! (everyone is watching)
Adama: Specialist Tryol, I want you off my hanger deck before you endanger another pilot. You're to report to petty officer Basin tommorow at oh-six-hundred for reassignmnet, do you understand? (Adama walks away and Tryol sits down to continue drinking as everyone slowly looks away)
Off all the digital machines man has created the lowly printer is the most temperamental of them all. No matter how you try to please it or follow it's rules it always finds a reason why you are to dumb to use it.
"PC load letter... what the f^$% does that mean???," is probably the most infamous quote from the movie Office Space, illustrating a very valid point: printers will always send you error messages no matter what, even if you follow all of their rules. Even if you take the ten hours to install all of it's drivers, search town or the internet for just the right toner, and spoon feed it paper to that it does not jam it will still not operate properly with out close attention.
I swear, they are like infants. Walk away from it for two seconds and it starts choking on paper; or spitting up black stuff. Why are printers the subject of my rage? Two reasons, the first being that I am super stressed out and secondly because I was working at my library job this morning and the printer started hating life. It ran out of paper, then after refilling it "processed" for a half an hour, then it said that the cartridge was loose, after that we restarted it and it had to "spool up" for twenty minutes. What the heck is "spooling up" anyway!?
I day-dreamed of acting out the scene below, just for fun. To walk out into a field with the bane of my job lying there ready to be brutalized by my heavy oak baseball bat. That would be great fun.
Well, I have to make lunch and then study for the rest of my life. For those who are interested there is a new message board to the left, in the sidebar. You don't have to register to use it just type your name in so everyone knows who is commenting and write what-ever you like. I would put something interesting about my life up, but as you all have heard in my last blog... All I do is study.
In approximately ten days I will be taking my final exams. The week preceding the final exams is know to Clarkson students as dead week. The name implies all the information you need to understand dead week. Everyone restricts themselves to a life of studying, sleeping, eating, and hygiene along with class attendance. I will also be subscribing to this lifestyle. It will be tough but it will ensure that I will do adequately on my exams. I find the best way to de-stress during this time is to go over all of the material that I have relearned or become proficient at and to also remember that doing more work now means doing less work under less stress later.
There will probably be either very few or many blogs this week. Few if I am a good student and focus on my school work and many if I desire to write about what is going on in order to take time to relax.
The Forbidden Kingdom is an action adventure film that follows two monks, an orphan, and a traveler from the present on their quest. Set in middle-age China The Forbidden Kingdom stars Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Micheal Angarano. Written by John Fusco, and directed by Rob Minkoff, the film is shot on location in the beautiful Chinese countryside.
As the film opens we learn that The Monkey King, armed with his golden staff, is as the most skilled and powerful warrior in middle earth. The Jade Warlord is then presented as the antagonist, who after challenging the Monkey King to a martial battle tricks him and turns him into a statue of stone. Jason Tripitikas, a young Kung Fu obsessed teenager, then is taken back in time after finding the golden staff of the monkey king and is told that he must free him from the self appointed Jade Emperor.
The film itself is visually stunning. The back-"scapes" are all green mountainous Chinese countrysides, bamboo forests, or ornate castles/fortresses; which are all very pleasing on the eyes. The fight sequences are some of the best ever filmed. Many styles of kung fu, from tiger to praying mantis to crane, are used by the two monk characters as they battle each other and armies of semi-capable soldiers. To watch Jet Li and Jackie Chan fight in more than one scene is to witnesses something amazing... just putting that out there.
If you analyze the film/plot and how they are developed there are two avenues of approach. You can analyze wither it is or is not a quality film according to mode of presentation and technique. The other analization method is to realize that this is a kung fu movie and that you should compare it against similar ones. When using the first method you quickly realize a few things. The first being that the subplots could have been set up better. The second being that, the begining of the movie traveled quickly and left the auditor assuming that the characters felt the certain ways for actual reasons. And, the third thing of consideration is that this movie was meant to focus on visual and martial elements, not soley on the dramatic ones. So, considering it this way I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Now, if we back this up to the second means of consideration we can say that all things considered the plot lines are all brought to fruition in interesting ways, they (the plot lines) are semi-intelligent, and the actors represent the characters well. So, considered the film this way I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars, maybe a 4.5 if I watched it again; maybe... just maybe. I would suggest that everyone see this movie just because Jet Li and Jackie Chan kick a@! and take names.
We've almost beaten that sucker, all I need is a little more help. The video has had more views than his, but we must continue to view it, if you can at least one more time. I need a sustained higher view number than his in order to move up a rung on the ladder, so heres the plan. You dont have to even watch the whole thing just click on the video then exit out, since it counts as a view if you click it. I will repost the link below if your interested in helping out. All it takes is a few more clicks, and you will be heroes. Stories will be told of you throughout the land, for years to come.
I'm trying to beat this guy on youtube for number of views so that my video about phi kappa sigma will be higher on the list than his. I just need 50 more views. The guy I'm trying to beat posted a video labeled Phi Kappa Sigma -The Skulls Part .1 and it has nothing to do with the organization. It's just some jibbery jab about reality.
So please help me beat him by clicking on the link below or visiting my youtube page (deadlyumbrella) and watching it. Only 50 more times and we win. Phi Kappa Sigma Video
I figure I better put at least one post up before friday, or else it will seem as if this is closer to a battlestar galactica blog and less like a my life blog.
So, this week has been odd in its own ways. To begin with on Tuesday my fraternity and a local sorority ran a blood drive and I ended up giving blood. This was probably not the best idea because I was tired already and even though I pigged out on Capri Sun's and Teddy Graham's afterward, I was still feeling kinda drained. But hey, I could have saved up to three lives, or at least thats what they told me. Two more times and I will have given a gallon, and you get those special pins for giving a gallon.
I also went to a concert at Crane School of Music that Ashli was playing in. They played Bach's The Planets and it was very good. My favorite was Jupiter, the bringer of jollity. After the orchestra finished Ashli grabbed me and we headed back to the area were the musicians put there instruments away before leaving, which was kinda cool because I got to see them a little better while back there.
However, while back there this guy Ashli knows, and dislikes, came up behind her and gave her a hard poke as he walked by her. She called him over and kicked him in the shin and he went away limping and moaning. I thought it was over until he came up behind me and I accidentally stepped in his way. He replied with "oh thats not fair!" then realizing what he was trying to do I stepped into the only open path between him and Ashli. "oh thats not fair!" he said again with more intensity as the little guy grabbed my arms from behind and put his foot in front of mine as if to trip me. I held on to him so I would not fall and he loosened his grip. I turned around and grabbed him the same way and pushed him back down the hall. He got in this dumb psuedo-fighting position and I pointed at him and said with force "get out of here!" Later that night he came up to Ashli and I with his tail between his legs and apologized. We told him that he was wrong and that if he did it again there would be serious consequences for his face.
I went home that night, alone, and just let my head hit the pillow. With all of the built up tiredness and giving of blood I didn’t wake up until 5p.m. the next day. I did get work done, however. And now I am all rested and ready to go.
On Friday the eleventh I had a linear algebra test at 10am. For those who don't know linear algebra is the math of matrices. A matrix is a 2-d set of numbers that can mean alot depending on how you use it (mostly in computer math operations), really exciting stuff I assure you. But as I sat down at my desk and tried to stay in The Zone I couldn't help but ask myself "Why do professors insist on giving me tests soooo early in the morning?" Well never the less, I did well and scored six points above the average with an 89%. I even beat my friend Dan who got a 100% on the last test. I'm happy and relieved because I was projecting that I would receive a score somewhere in the mid 70's.
I must tell you two things about the test that I thought were perversely hilarious. The first hilarious thing is that I realized about twenty minutes before I went to be on Thursday the tenth that the most minute details given are sometimes the most stressed on a test. So, I went onto the course website and began searching for anything minute. I found several things and one of them was a practice test from years past. I did it and memorized all the methods necessary to do that test, and guess what? It was exactly like that test except he change the numbers! Lucky me, well at least I knew all of the methods necessary, and that is half the battle.
The second perversely hilarious thing that happened to me was an error in the test. After being given the test I immediately began chugging along as fast as I could, and then with ten minutes left the professor said to the class "Attention, it has come to my attention that there is an error in one of the questions," my eyes shot up so fast my head could not keep up as he continued and said "This only affects those with version C," I looked down and to my disbelief I had... version C. Before I could look back up he continued again and said "The eigen value given is supposed to be a 5, not a 6. I am terribly sorry." in disbelief I stared into those old tired eyes and thought "Your terribly sorry!?!!?, what now?," almost as if he had heard my thought he glanced at his watch and said "You have five minutes left... do what you can." "DO WHAT I CAN!?!?!?" I thought to my self in rage "BUT I HAVENT EVEN FINISHED THE LAST QUESTION YET!" After a second or two of deciding what the best course of action was I made the decision to complete the final question and act as if there were no errors, I could argue for points later. So after completing the test with 30 seconds to spare I walked down the the front of the lecture hall to turn in my paper and said "Professor, I didn't have time to do the problem based on the newly given eigen value. What does this mean?" He looked at me for a second, exhaled and said in a very quite and tired voice "I'll figure something out, not to worry." I walked away thinking "You d@#n well better figure something out or I am going to the dean." Turns out he just gave everyone with the error full credit for the problem even if they did it totally and completely incorrectly. While this was upsetting to other students I happily accepted these free points and sat back in my chair the following Monday morning lecture relieved and content.
I am going to write a quick little article type exerpt about coffee. Basically; the types, flavors, names, origins, and other pertinent information without going into extreme detail. So, stay tuned for:
On Friday april 11th the new episode of Battlestar Galactica, Six of One, aired at 10p.m. eastern on the SciFi channel. It also had a free stream at 12p.m. that day on SciFi.com. I had been waiting all week for this episode and had even pushed back a date with my girlfriend so that I could watch it. I was pleasently surprised that this episode was much better than the one that preceeded it. I rate this episode with 4 out of 5 stars. For more information concerning my thoughts on the episode read on, below the player. Visit hulu.com for more BSG episodes, or look in my blog archive for embedded episodes. Once you watch this episode make sure to see the preivew for the next one The Ties that Bind
Spoiler Alert! -do not read past this point if you dont want your first viewing of the episode to be spoiled
I thought that this episode set up a lot of conflict for future episodes. The plot developments within the Cylon society were also particularly interesting. We were confirmed in our understanding of 6's as driven and commited to their ideals with a lack of practical forsight that the 1's possess. Considering the 1's for a moment, why do they appear so old? Was it because they are the first cylon model or because they were designed that way? More than likely the lader.
Back to the episode at hand, what did Leoben's (model: #2) comment mean when 2, 6, and 8 approached a 1 and began commenting on why the raiders would not fight the humans and he said "What their eyes must have seen, witnessed over time." The comment suggests that the final five are old. This raises another question. Are the final five the only ones of thier model type? That is to say; is there only one Chief, only one Saunders, only one Saul, and only one Tory though they are still all cylons? If not, then were would there base ships be? And, why are they so well hidden? What do the other cylons's of the final five type have to hide?
I love the hybrid. A cylon but not really a cylon. The brain of the basestar but an individual itself. I also always pay close attention to what they say, there may be rich foreshadowing in every sentence. Here's what she said.
The excited state decays by vibrational relaxation into the first excited singlet state.
Yes, yes and merrily we go.
Reduce atmospheric nitrogen by 0.03%.
It is not much consolation that society will pick up the bits, leaving us at ape modern repunishment, rather than - interdiction is paramount.
Please cut the fuse. They will not harm their own. End of line.
Limiting diffusions to two dimensions increases the number of evolutionary jumps within the species.
Rise and measure the Temple of the Five. Transformation is the goal. They will not harm their own.
They will not harm thier own obivously refers to the raiders not fighting the colonial fleet for fear that they may kill the final five. Transformation is the goal is also obvious as many of the cylons still wish to become human or at least able to reproduce on thier own. Rise and measure the temple of the five is cryptic but if I were to guess I would say that it refers to the cylon's growing desire to find the final five, if temple refers to physical form (as the bible does). Concerning the other lines it seems that there is ship commands mixed with more foreshadowing. If anyone has any idea what statements like "yes yes merily we go" mean then please leave a comment.
As for the fifth cylon, I have a guess. It may be a long shot but I think that currently the most likely person to be revealed as the fifth cylon is.... Saul's dead wife Helen. It made the most sense to me when considering the facts that the two could never have a child and that if Helen were the fifth there would be definite internal conflicts between the 1's, Helen(s?), and Saul(s?), because of the "favors" she gave a 1 in order to free Saul from torture back on New Caprica. This episode has so many unanswered questions, but it brought at least a few things together. Oh well, until the next episode I will leave you with the words of the cryptic words of the hybrid shown in Razor
All of this has happend before, and all of this will happen again, and again, and again, and again, and aga...
There will be shame on my children's children for generations to come....
Why? Because I made the newbiest newb mistake a newb could make....I left my headlights on and let my car battery die. Now, thats not the half of it. I left them on while I was at ashli's; and when I went to drive home this morning I had a rude awakening. "MY CAR WONT START!!!," I yelled to no one in particular. Upon further inspection I realized that my car, since it is an older model, has a manual headlight switch that does not go out on it's own. Therefore, when I turned the car off and went into her dorm they were still on. Oh man, I am so ashamed off myself. Look at the picture below and see how shamed I feel. I might get ostracized from the driving community for this one.
Now put yourself in my shoes. I walked out into the windy cold, shorts laden and found that my car would not start. I had work in one hour and it takes at least 30 minutes (usually 45) to walk from her campus to mine, and I still had to get ready and eat. I considered my options and began to walk home. I dialed everyone I thought might help me out, and my fraternity little Joe came to the rescue. This guy not only got himself out of his warm bed but also pried himself away from his girlfriend to pick my sorry butt up. Long story short, I managed to get home in time and I owe my little big time.
So, it is 11:02am on wensday April ninth and its only 3 hours before I take my road test. I'm nervous and trying not to get sucked into "the zone." For those who do not know, "the zone" is the state I and the rest of my classmates get into before an exam of any kind. When in "the zone" you think of few things other than what your being tested on. Your mind mules over what you have learned and the examples you have worked through. You focus the minutia of your studies that you think may have paramount importance (or just as likely be completely worthless). The only other thoughts that pass through your mind are your basic instincts (pain, hunger, tired, etc.) and how your going to deal with the possible outcomes of your test.
You, under no circumstances, should begin to think about what your going to do after your test while in the zone. This also goes for thinking about relaxing. If you begin to think about relaxing after your test you will lose focus. You waste time, you should be using to think about useful information, and increase the likely hood of failure.
Yeah, "the zone" is intense and I usually try to reserve the experience for finals and midterms, but I feel "the zone" pulling me in. Oh well, I have three hours and I am just going to work off some nervous energy and lightly remember all the stereotypical things you need to know for the test.
Check your mirrors, head checks, smooth transitions, observe right of way........
I'm twenty and still have a driver's permit. In my defense it was initially difficult to help the DMV understand that yes I am an american and yes I was born in canada. Since I only recently acquired a car I never needed a license until now. The test is on wensday in Massena at 2pm. I've been practicing my parallel parking and dad says I am pretty efficient at it. I'm going to practice once more the day before the test(tomorrow) just for good measure. I've read the booklet over to make sure the things I've been doing on the road for the last 3 years are correct, and have also been asking everyone I know for tips; some of them were pretty useful. If you have any tips be sure to leave a comment as long as it is before wensday. I will most assuredly be posting the full story of what went on and my respective success or failures after wensday.
I just hope I don't make any newbie errors. Like,... like when you pull up to the light next to a cop you have to rev your engine twice to signify you want to drag race, not once. Oh, and you have to make sure to remember that you always have the right of way and that everyone else has to move. Traffic lights and signs are suggestions, passengers have to jump out of the way, and never check your blind spots (its a sign of weakness). Ha, sometimes I really crack myself up. All things considered
Battlestar Galactica is the single greatest show I have ever seen. For a complete plot synopsis you are going to have to go to a different site, but lets just say that you will not be disappointed. Thanks to Hulu.com I can bring this amazing show to my blog. I will be posting all new episodes as soon as I can (as soon as hulu puts them up) so stay tuned for more.
Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Episode 1 He that believeth in me
I'm in the library here at Clarkson procrastinting a little bit and its 20mins from closing. I should really be studying so I can go home shower and sleep, but hey I want a little break.
The test I am studying for is my Digital Controls test, which takes place tommorow(friday) at 11am sharp. That kinda sucks if you think about it, why have test that early in the morning? Oh well, at least I'll get it done and over with. It's open note/open book and I did well on the last one so I think that this one should be ok. There is only a few things I need to bone up on and I set up and appointment with the professor to meet like an hour before the exam. hmmm... maybe I can pump him for intel, ehh maybe not.
The procrastination is setting in now, gotta fight it. I feel it's cold fingers feeling there way around my neck. They're trying to pull me down into the abyss of unproductiveness, but I jerk my arm upward at the last minute. I grab on to the last piece of focus I have in my brain and use it to remember that I need to do well in this course. With the fear of failure as my ally as I throw procrastination's hold off and wretch free. Safe for another day....
I've been living this year out in the most highly coveted dorms on or off campus. They may seem pretty dingy from first glance, but inside there very nice for dorms. There a whole lot better than living in those buildings where one room is stacked on top of another.
Below is a video I took of the apartment today with some nice background music. None of the "wall art" is mine, but the TV is, haha. If you catch a glimpse of the bench near the window by the door you will see what my pledge brothers and I made for the fraternity, as a part of our house beautification project. Enjoy, and sorry for the camera shake.
When I study I take short little ten minute breaks in between chapters, sections, questions, etc so that I can let my mind wander. If I dont I end up wasting time debating the importance of study, contemplate giving up, contemplate a break, but end up continuing in my studying miserable and not focused. These breaks help allevaiate this problem of mine. And, while this may not be very interesting to read about; they are very theraputic. In fact, I am on a break right now; and instead of gorging on snacks and caffinated beverages I choose to write a quick little blog.
The test I have been stressing is in 3.5 hours. But, the good news is that the little problem I had before has been worked out. I took like an hour to study it before I went in to the professor and he was like "yup, thats it" so I feel a little better. Now, this does not mean that I am going to do well on the test. The average grade for these things are in the low 60's, but I am going to try really hard.
I've got about 5 mins left to my break... hmm anything else to add here? think think think. No, not really. My mind is being used for triple integrals, flux, contour integrals, spacial directional derivatives and tons of stress. Well, practicing for the next two hours, then I make my equations sheet, and then I take the test @ 6:30.
or you can search the channels for "deadlyumbrella" if you dont like clicking hyperlinks. Any good or new ones I make I'll be posting here in my blog anyways, but I thought I would post the link just in case.
It's 10:44am and I have a class in 15ish minutes, so this ones going to be brief. My Electromagnetic Fields and Waves test is tonight and I am totally stressing, pretty hardcore. I studied the past two days nonstop and I have until tonight at 6pm to continue practicing. I'm really weak in this subject and I set up an appointment to talk to the professor about determining something and he was so nice to me, and said "Boy, if you can't get this down by the test then your pretty much going to fail." I have a general idea of how to treat it but I still need to sharpen up. Not giving up though, this guy isn't going to get rid of me until the bitter end.
Other than the test tonight things are pretty o.k. Ashli(my girlfriend) is back from her college's spring break. Our fraternity alumni weekend is this friday through sunday, so I'm pretty excited about that. And, I'm finally getting information back from Raymond Corp. The big day is May 19th ! I'm told that orientation will be the first two days. Probably alot of signing, tours, and videos but I dont care since I am being paid. I'll update you as to what I am doing for my projects as soon as I am told.
Hey, my name is Matt and this is my blog. This is were I generally rant and rave about things that may or may not be interesting or helpful to the blogosphere. When I'm not doing that I will be updating you on the goings on of my life, however boring or interesting they may be. If you want to contact me, email me at: leemf@clarkson.edu
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